At least 66 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza - women and children among dead, medics say
Women and children were among the dead, they added - as Israel launches an escalation of its war in Gaza.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the latest strikes.
It has previously said it has escalated its military action to ramp up pressure on Hamas to agree to a temporary ceasefire.
It comes as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas take place in Qatar this weekend.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Netanyahu says he wants Israel to take control of all of Gaza before handing it to ‘Arab forces'
Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel intends to take full military control of the Gaza Strip before handing over governing responsibilities to Arab forces. The Israeli prime minister spoke to Fox News' Bill Hemmer ahead of a key security cabinet meeting to decide whether to order a full military occupation of the war-torn strip - a move that UN officials have said would have 'catastrophic consequences'. When asked if Israel would take control of the entire 26-mile strip, Mr Netanyahu said on Wednesday: 'We intend to.' 'We don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,' he continued. 'We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body.' He said that Israel instead wanted to hand over the territory to Arab forces that would govern it, although it remains unclear who would take on the role. Hamas has said that Mr Netanyahu's statements 'confirm that he seeks to get rid of his prisoners and sacrifice them to serve his personal interests and extremist ideological agendas.' They added: 'We affirm that Gaza will remain resistant to the occupation and attempts to impose guardianship over it. 'Expanding the aggression against our Palestinian people will not be a walk in the park, and the price will be heavy and costly for the occupation...' Meanwhile, a Jordanian official told Reuters that Arabs would 'only support what Palestinians agree and decide on,' affirming that 'security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions'. The security cabinet session follows a meeting this week with the head of the military, which Israeli officials have described as tense as Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, pushed back on expanding the campaign. Israeli media has said Netanyahu sees this as the only way to destroy Hamas and free the remaining hostages following a breakdown of ceasefire talks. But Lt. Gen. Zamir and some other ministers have warned this move could be disastrous for the hostages and the population within Gaza. Opinion polls show that most Israelis want the war to end in a deal that would see the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas. It is believed that of the 50 remaining hostages inside Gaza, around 20 are still alive. Families of the hostages and released hostages, alongside hundreds of supporters, gathered to protest outside the Israeli cabinet session in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening. The families chained themselves in front of government offices. Anat Angrest, mother of the still-captive Matan Angrest, said: 'For a year and ten months we've been trying to believe that everything is being done to bring them back - you have failed. 'Now it's necessary to do the one thing the government hasn't yet done - put a comprehensive deal on the table that will bring them all home together. 'Exactly a year ago, we were told that military pressure would bring them home - a few weeks after that, six hostages were murdered in tunnels.' Meanwhile, Omar Awadallah, the Palestinian deputy foreign minister, told The Independent he believes that Netanyahu's statements were intended to tank any ceasefire deal and that true security for Israelis and Palestinians can only come through peace not more conflict. 'Netanyahu saying this is an attempt to undermine any effort for a real ceasefire in the Gaza Strip - he is using this smoke screen of controlling all of Gaza while Israel is all ready the occupying power,' he said. 'We believe that security comes with peace, not with not reoccupying Gaza or committing genocide against the Palestinian people or violating international law.' 'Security comes with peace, with stability, with what the international community is willing to do to achieve that. He said that while Palestinians welcomed additional pressure on Israel from countries like the UK and France, who have pledged to recognise the state of Palestine under certain conditions. 'To the international community, are we going to accept apartheid colonialism in the 21 century?', he said. 'This is our problem with the international community and some international players - you should take action. Words are not not enough.' As Mr Netanyahu discussed the next steps of Israel's military expansion, at least 42 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes and shootings across southern Gaza, according to local hospitals on Thursday. At least 13 were seeking aid in an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds. Another two were killed on roads leading to nearby sites run by the controversial US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) released a report on Thursday in which it called for an end to the dismantling of the controversial aid organisation's scheme, as well as the restoration of the UN-coordinated aid delivery mechanism. Raquel Ayora, MSF General Director for MSF Spain, said: 'In MSF's nearly 54 years of operations, rarely have we seen such levels of systematic violence against unarmed civilians.' 'The GHF distribution sites masquerading as 'aid' have morphed into a laboratory of cruelty,' said Ayora. 'This must stop now.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Dissent against Chris Minns spills into parliament as Labor MP accuses party of gagging debate on Gaza
Simmering tensions within New South Wales Labor over the premier's handling of last weekend's protest over the killing in Gaza has erupted into the public domain with a member of the left faction delivering a fiery speech in parliament accusing his own party of trying to shut down debate on the Middle East. Anthony D'Adam, a former trade unionist, convener of Labor Friends of Palestine and a member of the upper house, used an adjournment debate on Thursday night to accuse Chris Minns and the caucus of 'stultifying the internal culture of the party'. D'Adam said MPs' fear of losing their seats was behind a 'risk-averse culture' in NSW Labor. Earlier this week, a number of backbenchers tried to raise their concerns in caucus about Minn's position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and his decision to oppose the weekend protest across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was attended by up to 300,000 people in pouring rain. D'Adam said in his speech on Thursday that he was gagged and then bullied by caucus members. He now faces potential disciplinary action or possibly even expulsion from the Labor party for public airing matters discussed in caucus. In May last year, Minns sacked D'Adam from his role as parliamentary secretary for youth justice, after he criticised the actions of state police officers towards pro-Palestinian protesters. At the time, Minns called D'Adam's comments 'absolutely reprehensible'. Speaking out publicly about caucus meetings and criticising the leader is extremely rare in Labor. 'Earlier this week in the Labor caucus, I sought to make pointed criticisms of the premier in respect to the issues of Palestine and protest in the meeting,' D'Adam told parliament. 'I was … abused [and] told I should resign from the Labor party. A motion was moved to gag me from speaking. In my entire time in the parliament, I have never witnessed such an event. 'It is deeply disturbing that the caucus appears incapable of entertaining dissenting views and took the step that it did. No apology has been received for the bullying behaviour I was forced to endure.' D'Adam said the response 'can only confirm in the minds of caucus members that it is best to keep quiet'. He denied making a personal attack on Minns. 'My critique of the premier was a political critique,' he said. 'It was a critique of the government. It was not a personal attack on the premier as an individual but a criticism of his handling of a number of matters relating to the issues of the day.' Sign up to Morning Mail Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion D'Adam said that during the caucus debate, which the Guardian reported on Monday, he could 'see the fear in the faces and hear it in the voices of my colleagues'. 'They were concerned that this type of conflict could cost them their seats or their ministries,' he said. 'It is this fear that is driving a risk-averse culture in our party. But the challenges that we face as a society require bold government. 'The solutions we require are full of political risk, the problems like war, climate catastrophe, dislocating, technological change and the growing gulf of inequality are not going to be solved by whispered conversations in quiet corners of government.' In his first two years as leader, Minns has run a tight ship with few internal problems within the party. But the conflict in Gaza and Minn's move to pass laws curtailing protests have brought criticism from human rights groups and within his own party. Comment was sought from the premier.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Russian official says Trump, Putin may meet next week; not aware of any Zelenskiy meeting
WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Russia's deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet with U.S. President Donald Trump next week, but said he was not aware of any planned meeting between Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy. "As far as I heard, there are a number of locations, but they agreed to something that they don't want to disclose. The timeline is, I think, next week, but that's again judging from what presidents said themselves," Polyanskiy told reporters about the Putin-Trump meeting. "I haven't heard about any meeting planned with President Zelenskiy, but I am not in the loop," he added. There has been no summit of U.S. and Russian leaders since Putin and former President Joe Biden met in Geneva in June 2021. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, citing what it called threats to its security. Kyiv and its Western allies cast the invasion as an imperial-style land grab. Trump had vowed to end Russia's war in Ukraine, but almost seven months into his second term, it remains an unfulfilled promise. In his comments to reporters, Polyanskiy also condemned any Israeli plan for a takeover of the Gaza Strip. "We think that this is a very bad step in an absolutely wrong direction and we condemn this kind of actions," he said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza, despite intensifying global criticism of Israel's devastating almost two-year-old assault on the Palestinian enclave that has caused a hunger crisis, opens new tab and killed tens of thousands.
